GMG Classical Music Forum

I'm reading this book at the moment and I just want somewhere to note down any ideas etc. I'm hoping others will have things to say about this music.

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One thing I'll mention at the outset is that the book has been an eye opener for me about the sheer active nature of church ceremonies in the C 14 -- they're always going off on processions around the town carrying banners and reliquaries, stopping at churches and at various important idols in the city walls, singing as they went. I was also surprised to read that Reims was such an important place at the time, with a tradition of vigorous, pugnacious bishops and martyrs.  A city second only to Rome. Rome founded by Romulus, Reims by Remus, some people even disputed that and argued that Romulus was the true founder of Reims too.

Let's kick things off with 18 because there's good reason to think it's the earliest motet, maybe the first composition we have from Machaut.  Bone pastor, qui pastores / Bone pastor, Guillerme / Bone pastor -- it looks like three latin poems but really the tenor just goes "Bon pastor" The poems seem to be in honour of  Gruillaume de Trie, bishop of Reims from 1324-1334,  hence the postulate that it must be early.  The only recordings I've been able to find are from Hilliard Ensemble (HE)  and Ensemble  Musica Nova (EMN)

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They are like chalk and cheese.

I like EMN here very much. EMN are clear as crystal, in a dry non resonant ambience, each line is clear, they seem to make the cross relations interestingly dissonant from time to time. The power of their performance comes from the tight rhythms and the interesting crunchy harmonies.

HE are more languid, the voices seem less distinguishable in the duplum and tenor, they don't add expression by dissonance. Rather their expressiveness comes from the sinuosity and flexibility of the voices -- something which may not be justifiable, but we shall see as I explore rhetoric in Machaut's isorhythmic compositions a bit more over the next few weeks. They sing the triplum with quite a low voice, and this gives the whole motet a bit of a low feel, which may be part of the reason why the harmonies sound less exciting.

Just a quick note about performing these songs.

I still haven't been able to get hold of Christopher Page's paper "Machaut 'Pupil' Deschamps on the Performance of Music: Voices or instruments in the 14th-century chanson" (Early Music, Volume 5, Issue 4, 1 October 1977, Pages 484–491), though I haven't given up.

As far as I can see his work is based on a comment of the aforementioned Deschamps  -- he says that when you have a polyphonic song, you can perform it without words, with words, or with words and music. He goes on to say that if someone's sick, it's probably better to have words alone.

That's it.

Except it's not it, because of the experiments of ensembles like Gothic Voices etc.

But as far as the historical authenticity of the practice is concerned, as far as I know, that's it.

This issue is going to rear its head in the next motet, 19.

Sorry, Motet 18. I put the wrong image in.

This is just taken from Wikipedia

QuoteM1 "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde"
M2 "De souspirant / Tous corps qui de bien amer / Suspiro"
M3 "Fine Amour / He! Mors com tu es haie / Quare non sum mortuus"
M4 "Puisque la douce rousee / De Bon Espoir / Speravi"
M5 "Qui plus aimme / Aucune gent m'ont demandé / Fiat voluntas tua"
M6 "S'Amours tous amans joir / S'il estoit nulz qui pleindre / Et gaudebit cor vestrum"
M7 "Lasse! je sui en aventure / J'ay tant mon cuer / Ego moriar pro te"
M8 "Ha! Fortune / Qui es promesses de Fortune / Et non est qui adjuvet"
M9 "O livoris feritas / Fons totuis superbie / Fera pessima"
M10 "Helas! ou sera pris confors / Hareu! hareu! le feu / Obediens usque ad mortem"
M11 "Fins cuers doulz / Dame, je sui cilz / Fins cuers doulz"
M12 "Corde mesto cantando / Helas! pour quoy virent / Libera me"
M13 "Eins que ma dame / Tant doucement m'ont attrait / Ruina"
M14 "De ma dolour / Maugre mon cuer / Quia amore langueo"
M15 "Faus Samblant m'a deceu / Amours qui ha le pouoir / Vidi Dominum"
M16 "Se j'aim mon loyal ami / Lasse! comment oublieray / Pour quoy me bat mes matris?"
M17 "O series summe rata / Quant vraie amour enflamee / Super omnes speciosa"
M18 "Bone pastor, qui pastores / Bone pastor, Guillerme / Bone pastor" (c. 1324)
M19 "Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus"
M20 "Biaute paree de valour / Trop plus est belle / Je ne sui mie certeins"
M21 "Veni creator spiritus / Christe, quie lux es / Tribulatio proxima est et non est qui adjuvet" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M22 "Plange, regni respublica / Tu qui gregem tuum ducis / Apprehende arma et scutum et exurge" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M23 "Inviolata genitrix / Felix virgo / Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M24 "De touz les biens / Li enseignement / Ecce tu pulchra es amica mea" (doubtful)

19, Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus is also a three voice motet entirely in Latin. And like 18, it is the celebration of a person, in this case St Quintin, whose cult was particularly active in Reims, and responsible for the completion of some significant architectural projects.

In addition to HE and EMN I've found recorded three other recorded performances - Cantica Symphonia, Clerks Group and Liber Unusualis

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91W8L5VcqiL._SL1200_.jpg) (https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/039/MI0001039393.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HQ840XX8L._SY355_.jpg)

What seems to me really interesting at the moment is the contrast between EMN and Cantica Symphonia. As with M18, EMN's interpretation is bracing and functions as a study in rhythms shifting from one voice to another. Their vigour is totally winning, and it seems to befit a motet which talks, in one of the poems, about St Quintin's prowess.

Cantica Symphonia replace the tenor (A christo honoratus) with a viol type instrument. The result is greater clarity of the poems which carry the burden of meaning. They sing in a more sensual and fluid way that EMN, I would say with an emphasis more on feeling than rhythm.  Their expressive singing is counterbalanced by an extraordinary impression of control and poise. Using a sustaining instrument for the tenor in this motet, a practice which reminds me of using organ instead of sung tenor in polyphonic chant, brings clarity and contrast to the music. I like what they do very much.

 These are the tenors of Motets 1-17 with their translation. On the right I've mentioned steps in books about making mystical spiritual journeys which were extremely popular reading in C14 France. The hypothesis  is that in Motets 1 - 17 the tenors steer the interpretation, and that these 17 motets represent an allegorical cycle representing such a mystical journey.

Amara valde   --- Intensely bitter --- You know your spiritual journey will be difficult
Suspiro  --- I sigh  ---  At first you experience fear of God, and you grieve because of sin
Quare non sum mortuus  ---  Why did I not die?  -- Resolution to follow Christ's passion
Speravi ---  I have hoped  ---  Hope for forgiveness
Fiat voluntas tua  --- Thy will be done  --- Desire to conform to Christ's will with patience, obedience and abstinence
Et gaudebit cor vestrum  ---  And your heart will rejoice  ---  Experience fleeting joys
Ego moriar pro te  ---  That I might die for thee  ---  struggle with sin/devil
Et non est qui adjuvet  ---  And there is no help  --- struggle with sin/devil
Fera pessima  ---  Most evil beast  --- struggle with sin/devil
Obediens usque ad mortem  ---  Obedient unto death  --- Let fire purify the soul
Fins cuers doulz  ---  Sweet noble heart  ---  Yearn for wisdom
Libera me  ---  Free me  ---  Yearn for wisdom
Ruina  --- Ruin ---  Yearn for wisdom
Quia amore langueo  ---  For I am sick with love ---  Yearn for wisdom
Vidi Dominum  ---  I have seen the Lord  ---  Fleeting glimpse of Christ
Pour quoy me bat mes matris?  ---  Why does my husband beat me?  ---  Endure further earthy tribulations
Super omnes speciosa  ---  Beautiful above all  ---  Final union with Christ

The duplum and triplum are prima facie love poems, but apparently the analogy between the quest of a lover for his beloved and the quest of a pilgrim for the experience of Christ's wisdom was pretty standard fare.

Oh one other thing. Machaut was very careful to arrange them. All the indications are that 1-17 form a cycle. I'm exploring the idea that sequence represents a spiritual mystical journey.

In motet 1 the tenor, Amara valde, is taken from a responsory called Plange quasi virgo, which, I must say, is shockingly bitter. If this is what Machaut's audience were thinking of when they heard the motet they certainly knew that they weren't listening to a jolly song about courtly love.

Quote from: http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Plange_quasi_virgoWeep like a virgin, my people,
howl, keepers of the flock, covered with ashes and wearing hair-shirts,
for the great and very bitter day of the Lord will come.
Prepare yourselves, priests, and lament,acolytes before the altar,
cover yourselves with ashes.
For the great and very bitter day of the Lord will come.

The triplum is a French poem where the lover says he's feeling bad because he's worried that he doesn't have enough courage to woo his beloved, and the duplum is a French poem where the lover says that he would rather die than do anything to dishonour his love.

This intersection of secular and sacred is something I find interesting -- it came up in a conversation with Que recently about The Sound and the Fury's performance of Faugues' L'homme arme mass. What we in fact see is that in early music, clash of registers and languages is part of the scene.


I've found six recorded performances -- EMN, Liber Unusualis, Orlando, Studio der Fruhen Musik (who use an instrument for the tenor), vajravoices (youtube)  and Ferrara Enselmble

(https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0003/824/MI0003824988.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) (https://img.discogs.com/PXFl7DIUhlyJq6j8KytLDOjyDkQ=/fit-in/300x300/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(40)/discogs-images/R-7380788-1537817618-3324.jpeg.jpg)
(http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Apr02/machout.jpg) 


There's a lot to enjoy in all of them. However EMN and Liber UnUsualis are the most bitter, partly I think because of the way they flatten harmonies to create dissonances,  and for me this makes their interpretations stand out.

Sylvia Huot ("Patience in adversity, The courtly lover and Job in Machaut's Motets 2 and 3", Medium Ævum, Vol. 63, No. 2 (1994), pp. 222-238) has argued that the source of the tenor Suspiro in Motet 2 is Job 3: 24-25 -- the responsorium Antequam comedam suspiro. . .  I have not been able to get hold of her paper so I can't comment on her argument.

Here's the text in English

Quote
24 For sighing has become my daily food;
    my groans pour out like water.
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded has happened to me.
26 I have no peace, no quietness;
    I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Without going into too much detail, Pope Gregory the Great (Moralia) gave this a mystical reading: eating is a metaphor for thinking about Christ, sighing is a metaphor for longing for divine union. This way of thinking was all part and parcel of popular mystical journey literature (the analogue of self help books today!) It's also worth mentioning that Suspira were a type of prayer.

The French motetus talks about the lover's inability to speak; the French triplum talks about his wavering between sighing and complaining.

Anyway it seems pretty clear to me that the tenor holds the whole thing together -- sighing is the key idea in this motet.

I have found recordings EMN, HE, Ferrara Ensemble, Theatre of Voices, Orlando Consort, Cantilina Trio (youtube)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51RW03WWYXL.jpg) (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81d22osn6ZL._SY355_.jpg) https://www.youtube.com/v/ZRX3yP0tPEc

HE seems to me interpretatively very interesting, because the sigh pervades the whole interpretation. They take their time so that the music seems rather expressive, a study of the sigh. All the commercial ones are all well sung and well recorded and satisfying, though I would say that, in the light of HE, when it's taken fast it can sound a bit glib.

Sylvia Huot in the above mentioned paper "Patience . . . argued that the source of the tenor Suspiro in Motet 2 is Job 3: 24-25 -- the responsorium quare non sum mortuus. . .  , again from Job  (Job 3: 11), which gives in English

Quote
11 Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?
12 Why were there knees to receive me
    and breasts that I might be nursed?

Pretty miz!

The triplum is so dramatic in its opening that it made me think of John Donne!

QuoteHé. Mors comme tu es haïe
De moy, quant tu as ravie
Ma joie, ma druererie [consolation]

versus

QuoteDeath, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

what a contrast with the triplum of Motet 2, where the lover was so sad he couldn't speak for sighing. He you can't shut him up! Performed as a cycle to a knowing audience the effect music be powerful.

Anyway, the poem's basically saying that the lover (seeker after Christ on some interpretations) would rather be dead than live without his love (Christ), who has herself died. It seems that the mystical self help books of the time recommended a thorough contemplation of the passion of Christ early on in the journey, as it were, and predicted that the seeker would fall into a depressive death wish as a result.

The duplum  talks about how the beloved has "vint navrer au coeur" the beloved, and that she offers no hope of healing. I'm not clear how this fits in with the above interpretation of the triplum as a metaphor for  the passion.

As far as recordings go, there is EMN and HE and Orlando

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71u3BpOWcUL._SX466_.jpg)

HE seem to be most aware of the need to express the hopeless of the tenor throughout the motet. Orlando are cheerful, partly because they stick to the jaunty modal rhythms, but affectively it seems totally wrong to me. I intend to explore medieval rhythms a bit more. Their copywriter can talk the talk though

Quote from: Tasmyn Mahoney Steele in the booklet of Fortune's ChildHe! Mors! / Fine Amour / Quare non sum IONMEis (Motet 3 9 ) is a cry of pain. Lamenting the death of the beloved, the motet is founded on a tenor whose liturgical source is the Historia of Job, which in turn is taken from chapters 3, 6 and 9 of the book of Job. These passages of the Bible depict Job fearing the wrath of the Lord and pondering the purpose of his existence in a world of suffering. The upper lines of this motet also contemplate the pain of living, but lay the blame for suffering at the door of the allegorical figures of Death, True Love, and Fortune. Drawing also on citations from Marian songs and trouvere lyrics, He! Mars! I Fine Amour/ Quare is rich in its intertextuality, and would have evoked for medieval listeners a complex set of emotional resonances.

EMN are a bit better largely because their harmonies are more interesting though whether it's the result of expressive flattening or a higher pitch I couldn't say -- probably both. I like EMN very much.

If someone could scan for me the booklet essay of EMN I'd be very pleased!

After contemplating the Passion the lover/seeker brushes himself down and picks himself up with regained hope.

The tenor Speravi is from an introitus Domine, in tua misericordia speravi which is taken from this verse of psalm 13, here in English

QuoteBut I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

The poem in the motetus is really beautiful  -- even I can tell that just from being able to read modern French

QuotePuis que la douce rousee
D'Umblesse ne vuet florir
Pitez, . . .

stunning pastoral incipit, the sweet dew doesan't wish to make pity come into flower.

The triplum talks about how even though he's down in the dumps he sometimes regains hope and that's nice. The motetus talks about how he's on fire with desire, so much so he wants to submit to the loved ones will (Christ's will) even unto death. Cool!

I've found six recordings of the whole thing. HE, EMN, Orlando, Ferarra ensemble, Tenet Vocal Artists (youtube) and The Early Music Consort of London (a blown instrument for the tenor). In addition EMN take the triplum as a solo song, I've no idea why --  I don't have the booklet.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/511FaDoHQ%2BL._SX355_.jpg) (https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_1080/MI0004/243/MI0004243710.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) https://www.youtube.com/v/KWvvFF0Umzc

Now we come to something interesting. Hilliard are much more rhythmically flexible than the rest. It's as if the others all believe that the music a C14 isorhythmic motet isn't about expressing meaning. There's a sort of jauntiness about what they do because modal rhythms are often jaunty rhythms, and that  could be taken for speravi -- though a pretty caricatural form of hopefulness IMO, especially given the complex mystical meaning of the cycle. And indeed the finesse of the poet.

HE however are much more rhythmically flexible, and they take their time more, allowing the listener to smell the roses. Their interpretation is hopeful in its affect, positive and optimistic, but rather subtly so and with great complexity of expression. To me it makes much more sense given what has gone before.

I have only two discs of Machaut : Messe de Notre Dame (Oxford Camerata/Naxos) e this IMHO marvellous cd delivered to me just a few days ago :  but these are not motets , these are pieces for a single voice (wonderful the 'lai' at track 4).
If I would like to buy ONE , just one , cd of Machaut's motets , what could be the best choice ?    Thanks

Ensemble Musica Nova (on Zig-Zag Territoires)

I've been following this thread with great interest btw, keep it up

Quote from: amw on October 24, 2018, 03:49:24 AM


I've been following this thread with great interest btw, keep it up

Sure but I've put a task in there for you.

The tenor of Motet 5 is taken from the pater noster, and was familiar to me from school days (the horror . . .) and so would be, I guess, much more familiar to Machaut's audience

QuotePATER NOSTER, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo et in terra.

"Thy will be done" in the tenor expresses the seeker's submission to God's will as he travels along the mystical road which ends in unity with Christ, no matter how hard the process is.

The French triplum starts off with a long meditation on the contrasting emotions caused by a fervent desire to be at one with his beloved, and the difficulty of making it happen. There's a marvellous Lear like moment in the middle -- perfectly readable -- more readable than Chaucer is for someone who can only read modern English in fact

QuoteDont n'est ce droite rage?
Certes, oïl, mais pour rien que je voie
Pour ce peril issir je ne voudroie.
Car tous siens sui sans changement de gage
Quant esperer me fait ma garaison"

This guy could write poetry!

The motetus begins with a proverb which is both depressing and which sits nicely with the tenor

QuoteQui plus aimme plus endure
Et plus mainne dur vie

it continues with a question which has puzzled me all my life (this is harder to read in French -- I spoke to soon about Chaucer maybe)

QuoteDear God, Why do not
ladies exercise such sovereignty
over their favours so as to
choose unerringly those
who have the arrow of love fixed in
their hearts?

Hopefully one of the GMG ladies will answer.

As far as recordings are concerned, I can find four -- which is surprising because it's an attractive bit of music. There's Orlando (Burning Heart), HE and EMN and one by some students at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the only named one being Carolina Acune

https://www.youtube.com/v/nQhIxxCIzTY

Orlando's performance is one I like very much partly they use a sort wide vibrato embellishment from time to time which I think is fun to hear. I've heard it once before in a concert when Diabolus in Musica sang Ockeghem's requiem, I haven't heard the recording so I can't say whether it's there. In the concert I was with a bunch of people who sing early music, and they were all surprised by it -- we all looked at each other. But I guess hearing it here with Orlandos suggests that it's a well accepted form of expressive ornamentation.

EMN are bracingly swift. Again not really sensitive to the music's rhetoric, but very sensitive to its rhythms. I'm tempted to say that what they do is more Quadrivium than Trivium -- but that would be pretentious. I wouldn't want to give the impression though that either Orlando or EMN are more mathematical than poetic. That's to say that I don't want to suggest that they're more interested in marking the way the rhythms are passed from one voice to the next than they are about how (if at all) the music is meaningful. That wouldn't do them justice -- though I think they both skirt it.


Hilliard are at the other extreme -- more rhetoric, more trivium than quadrivium. Which approach is more in line with Machaut's intentions? Maybe he's clear in his own prologue

QuoteJe, Nature, par qui tout est fourmé
Quanqu'a ça jus et seur terre et en mer, [5]
Vien ci a toy, Guillaume, qui fourmé [6]
T'ay a part, pour faire par toy fourmer
    Nouviaus dis amoureus plaisans.
Pour ce te bail ci trois de mes enfans
      Qui t'en donront la pratique,
Et, se tu n'ies d'euls trois bien congnoissans, [7]
Nommé sont Scens, Retorique et Musique.


Par Scens aras ton engin enfourmé [8]
De tout ce que tu vorras confourmer ; [9]
Retorique n'ara riens enfermé
Que ne t'en voit en metre et en rimer ; [10]
    Et Musique te donra chans, [11]
Tant que vorras, divers et deduisans. [12]
      Einsi ti fait seront frique, [13]
N'a ce faire ne pues estre faillans, [14]
Car tu as Scens, Retorique et Musique

I can't find a translation of this anywhere but it's pretty obvious that he's saying that three things are the motor, the engine, of his art -- Scens, Retorique et Musique. Of course what he meant by that is a much bigger question than I can answer.

Carolina Acune etc are wonderful I think, and apart from sound may well be my favourite -- less cold than the quadrivium artists, more rhythmically incisive than HE.

The tenor in Motet 6 is a consoling passage from Isaiah Sicut mater consolatur

QuoteAs one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you

The whole passage is

QuoteSicut mater consolatur filios suos, ita consolabor vos, dicit Dominus;
et de Jerusalem, civitate quam elegi, veniet vobis auxilium;
Et videbitis et gaudebit cor vestrum.

and the last line " et gaudebit cor vestrum" -- And your heart shall rejoice -- in turn echoes an antiphon to the magnificat  taken from passages in John -- I guess the audience would have heard the link

Quote14:18a  Non vos relinquam orphanos. Alleluia.
14:18b  Vado, et venio ad vos. Alleluia.
16:22b  Et gaudebit, cor vestrum. Alleluia.

which means

QuoteI will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. . . And your heart shall rejoice

So this is pretty hopeful stuff

The triplum is all about how horrible his suffering is because his beloved let him see how wonderful she is, and then she just abandoned (dumped?)  him. What a teaser! The motetus lets us know that if we didn't have to struggle to be with her, we would not think the beloved to be so worthy.

There are two recording. The Deller Consort and EMN.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518Saagt2LL._SX355_.jpg)

EMN are most attractive to hear.  EMN also sing the triplum with a percussion background. This is SO COOL. It makes me think of Serge Gainsbourg singing Requiem pour un con

https://www.youtube.com/v/C3vZ2-cwPhQ

Motet 7 is a difficult motet.

The first striking thing about Motet 7 is that the triplum and motetus are spoken by a woman.

In the triplum she talks about how she's angry because she two timed her real lover for a cad who dumped her; the motetus talks about how she's scared that she'll die of desire because her beloved hates her -- she should have been nice to him when he loved her. It concludes with the splendidly politically incorrect

QuoteTelle est des femmes la nature

I think that both triplum and motetus are, therefore, about pride. But I'm not sure, I've never studied this stuff.

The tenor looks like a man's line -- the famous "Ego moriar pro te, fili mi" "Might I die for you my son" spoken by David after the Death of of Absalom in 2 Samuel.

So it looks as though this is music for two women and one man.

One real difficulty in this motet comes from seeing the relation between the tenor and the two upper voices. Some scholars think that the solution to this conundrum lies in the way that, to the medieval mind, David is an allegory of Christ, and Absalom an allegory of sin. Ego moriar pro te stands for Christ's desire to die to redeem man's sins -- including pride. I am not able to comment on this idea.

There are three performances -- Orlando (Soverign Beauty), EMN and HE.

Orlando use a lowish grown up man's pitch for all three voices, a decision which appears not to sit too well with the meaning of the poems. They sing it with pretty well no attempt to express the sentiments of the poems, a decision which appears not to sit too well with Machaut's focus on "Scens, Retorique et Musique" They do not discuss their surprising interpretation in the booklet.

EMN have a lady sing the triplum and a high voice in the motetus too, defo a man in the tenor -- good decisions. I'd say they're more expressive than Orlando but that's not hard and there's not a lot in it.

HE have a high countertenor for the triplum and the overall feel is higher than the Orlando. They take a lot more trouble to make sense of the poetry, the whole motet is suffused with languor anguish and sorrow, I like what they do very much.

The triplum and motetus of Motet 8 are fabulous pieces of poetry, just about readable if you can read modern French.

The triplum personifies fortune, saying basically that she's nasty and dangerous and you'd be mad to trust her. Just to give one example of the verse, look at this

QuoteC'est fiens couvers de riche couverture
Qui dehors luist et dedens est ordure

ce = Fortune; fiens=fiente; luist from luire.

The motetus is so good that it's hard to pick a part, it's all good. The speaker says that Fortune has cast him adrift without a paddle and he'll surely die.

The Tenor is taken from the responsorium for the passion Circumdederunt me (2 Samuel), and in English makes the suitably bleak

QuoteAnd there is no one to help

Anne Walters Robertson says something which sounds interesting about this motet, interesting because it reveals a bit about Machaut's outlook on life at the time of writing it. Her starting point is a best seller self help manual of the time called Horologium by Henry Suso -- it's designed to help you get into mystical union with God.  She argues that there's a very close parallel between what Machaut says about Fortune and what Suso says about Sin -- they really do reflect each other in a way that, she argues, would have been quite evident given the popularity of Suso's book. It's as if Machaut equaltes Fortune with Sin -- which is an unusual idea.

I have found vocal recordings by Alla Francesca, EMN, HE, Liber UnUsualis, Clerks Group, Early Music Consort of London, Liber Ensemble (Youtube) and Lady Bugga Bilibit and friends (youtube)

https://www.youtube.com/v/hRMBK7q5jjQ  https://www.youtube.com/v/1Hvhq1s3jlA  (https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/043/MI0001043865.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) 

Liber Ensemble on YouTube are particularly interesting, they take it quite fast and that for once seems to add to the feeling of desperation and urgency. Clerks Group and EMN also very fine I think. Liber Unusualis take it quite slowly, I don't know whether that's a good thing or not.

This is a fine motet and it seems to inspire the performers.

Quote from: Vinbrulé on October 24, 2018, 03:39:23 AM
I have only two discs of Machaut : Messe de Notre Dame (Oxford Camerata/Naxos) e this IMHO marvellous cd delivered to me just a few days ago :  but these are not motets , these are pieces for a single voice (wonderful the 'lai' at track 4).
If I would like to buy ONE , just one , cd of Machaut's motets , what could be the best choice ?    Thanks

There is only one complete recording of motets, and that's Ensemble Musica Nova.

You once said this talking about lute recordings

Quote from: Vinbrulé on March 16, 2018, 06:39:59 AM
Growing older ( I'm 67 ) I more and more appreciate and NEED abstract music more than any other kind of music .
I mean absolute music , pure music ,  without extramusical references,  like the  Fantasias by Byrd, Gibbons or Purcell, or The Art Of Fugue ...... well, The Art Of Fugue for me is the Everest in music.
So, exploring the world of lute music I have been in search for something of that kind , and I am still in search.  Some pieces by Dowland, or Johnson adapt to my needs , and some beautiful pieces by Francesco da Milano or Alberto da Mantova (alias Albert de Rippe) as well .
But  JSB  Art of Fugue is still far away.   :-[    (Nevertheless I am immensely grateful to Nigel North for his magnificent transcriptions of the cello suites and the violin partitas & sonatas ,  Linn label, 4 CDs)
I apologize for going off topic (and for my poor English)

Well, if you feel like that,  Ensemble Musica Nova may be just the ticket. If not, get Hiliiard, which contains 18 out of the 24 motets Machaut wrote.

Motet 9 is the central motet, and as if to underline this important landmark in the cycle, Machaut chooses to put the triplum, motetus and tenor in Latin, the language of the Bible and of exorcism.

Motet 9 is about the devil and the mortal sins of pride and envy.

The triplum is a curse of Lucifer and his pride. It ends with a prayer to Mary to "lead us to joy"

The motetus is a curse of the devil and his envy.

The tenor  Fera pessima -- most evil beast -- comes from Genesis, it is one of the things that Jacob says when he discovers that Joseph has been killed by his envious brothers.

This linchpin of Machaut's sequence exists in only three recordings as far as I know, EMN, HE and Ensemble Giles Binchois

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/914kWmjKmRL._SY355_.jpg)

EMN bring a feeling of bracing speed and a certain hardness. Ensemble Giles Binchois seem slightly more reposed, but emotionally they are a void. HE make both the preceding accounts sound a bit glib IMO. They take their time and they either uncover and reveal expressive harmonies or they embellish the music with them for expressive purposes. It is a great performance of a magnificent piece of music.

After his encounter with the devil in Motet 10, the lover/quester on Motet 11 is now ardent, burning with passion.

In religious terms he's burning with the desire for mystical union with Christ and, I'm told, the standard means of comforting somebody in such a plight was always the same == obedience to God's will. And that's exactly what the tenor tells us. Obediens usque ad mortem  ---  Obedient unto death --- which is taken from a passage in Phillippians where Paul explains that because he was obedient to God, God exalted Christ (Phillippians 2:8-9) So the structure is simple -- despair in the triplum and motetus (French) find comfort in the tenor (Latin bible quote)

Three recordings that I know of, Early Music Consort of London, EMN and HE, the two former very different from the latter because of the extreme expressiveness of the Hilliard Ensemble. Early Music Consort of London use a trumpet type thing for the tenor, which may not be a good idea given the importance of the words. 

In Motet 11 the lover is feeling very bad because his beloved won't even let him look at her again.

In the triplum he says that although his death is foreseeable, it would be sweet if he could only get another eyefull, in the motetus he's resigned to dying without so much as getting a peep.

The tenor is in French for the first time in the cycle, and simply says "sweet noble heart." It's from a popular song.

The interesting thing about the motet is the juxtaposition of death and sweetness, but apparently this was a familiar trope to the readers of popular medieval mystical literature. The idea which was current at the time was that the suffering of Christ in the passion was counterbalanced by the sweetness of his existence after the crucifixion. And similarly, for anyone wanting to achieve mystical union, there will be great suffering in the process, which will be counterbalanced by great sweetness when the quest comes to its fruition. No pain no gain, as it were.

As far as recordings go, I've found Gothic Voices twice, HE, EMN, Orlando (Dart of Love), Clerks Group and Studio der frühen Musik.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51KFM8ohmQL._SY355_.jpg)  (https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/618yrN28JTL._SX355_.jpg)

Let's deal with Gothic Voices first. The recording in The Mirror of Narcissus was made in April 1983. The performance is languid and harmonically rich. The performance in The Study of Love was made almost a decade later in October 1992, and is much faster.  They are both fabulous IMO, I especially like the earlier one because of my penchant for slower tempos.

The booklet essays by Christopher Page don't discuss this motet, but he does say something interesting and revealing about another Machaut song Trop plus / Biauté parée / Je ne suis. in his essay for The study of Love:

QuoteTrop plus / Biauté parée / le ne suis is a three-part motet that welcomes a very sprightly performance. Many years ago, David Munrow recorded the piece at a very slow tempo; this brings out the dissonances but may sometimes deprive the cross-rhythms and fragmented musical phrases of their excitement.

HE are even slower than the one in Mirror of Narcissus, but, to parody Page, I think the motet welcomes a very unsprightly performance, even if it's at the expense of excitement.

EMN provide us with a lovely instrumental rendition of the music in the motetus before offering a speedy performance of the three part motet -- speedy but I smell no glibness -- I don't know about excitement.

Studio der frühen Musik are blessed with the voice of Andrea von Ramm, at least, I see it as a blessing, and if you share this view you won't want to miss out on this characterful and heartfelt performance. Instruments for the tenor.

Orlandos singing is controlled and quite expressive. For me it lacks some of the magic of the others -- this could be me or it could be a familiar failing of complete editions starting to rear its ugly head. They are producing an awful lot of recordings at the moment. Anyway, there are dangers of overthinking the listening when you do comparative listening like I'm doing -- the Orlando taken alone in a more normal context would probably be full of magic even for me!

Clerks Group are also very fine -- basically they're all well worth knowing -- I can't rank these things! No! It's a great piece of music which has brought out the best of most of the performers -- I was quite surprised to be unable to find any amateur ones on youtube though.

The tenor from Motet 12, Libera Me, is straight out of Genesis where, apparently, the verb "deliver" used in the King James Bible is a good translation from the Hebrew

QuoteDeliver me, I pray you, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau

The reason this may be important is that some exegetical literature of Machaut's time interpret the passage as a plea to be freed from earthly desire -- carnal desire -- the hands of my brother.

The triplum says the lover says that he is really terribly anguished  because he loves someone who hates him. The motetus is a complaint about the way Fortune can be so nasty -- making good people suffer and giving wealth to the bad etc.

So what is the meaning of the juxtaposition of these three texts? And what does the music contribute?

If it's true that Libera me has an underlying meaning which is a plea to be protected from carnal desires -- desires which can only be a distraction for the person seeking mystical unity -- then the combination of tenor, motetus and triplum is a vivid way of presenting the distraction that evil Fortune can place in the way of the person on a mystical journey.

There are only two recordings of this motet that I know -- Orlando (Fortune's Child) and EMN. Orlando's is very interesting because it suggests something about how the music is contributing to the meaning of the whole.

Orlando stagger the voices -- in particular the way the motetus is shifted from the triplum suggests turbulence, a reflection perhaps of the mental turbulence expressed in the poem. The voices are well contrasted, I especially appreciate the growling tenor (sung by a bass!) . The recorded ambience is very transparent and dry.   EMN are rather less interesting in my opinion.

It appears to be a minor motet at first, but when you dig a little bit deeper, at least in the hands of The Orlando Consort, Motet 12 may well be a really good example of Machaut's special genius.

The life of the pilgrim who seeks after union with God is not a long tranquil stream, and it is well recorded in medieval self help manuals (eg Suso's Horologia) that Christ may appear to be warm and friendly, and then suddenly turn cold and nasty.

The triplum personifies the lady (=Christ) with three images, Miss Fair Welcome, Madame Sweet Greeting and Dame Appearance of Love. She appears nice and friendly, but in fact she's a proud and heartless bitch who's going to give him the push for no good reason.

The poem has a powerful bit of poetry to describe this rejection, just about readable if you can read modern french. He says that his lady

QuoteCom cil qui son anemi
Mienne noier com amy
Les bras au col: et tray
M'ont par tel affaire

The motetus is a short poem which says much the same thing as the triplum, basically saying that now the lady knows he loves her, she just wants to see him suffer.

The tenor of Motet 13 just one word, ruina -- unidentified and IMO a rather strong word.


There's only one recorded performance of the motet that I know of, by Hilliard. It's interesting to see how the polyphony is, in their hands, so expressive. EMN recorded the triplum as a chanson which they sing in a cheery way, they suggest that there's a source in this form, by commenting "we were able to choose among several versions of the same motet." Disappointing that they don't say more.

The tenor of motet 14 Quia amore langueo comes from a passage from Song of Songs "Filiae Hierusalem, nuntiate dilecto quia amore langueo" which in english gives

QuoteDaughters of Jerusalem, tell my beloved that I am sick of love.

It was part of an antiphon in the liturgy for the feast of the assumption, hence Machaut's audience would have been clear about the context. The story goes that when Mary was in her death throes, Jesus appeared, Mary became happy that the end was near,  and she said that she was sick with love. The phrase Quia amore langueo represents the moment of readiness for death through love (how romantic! Florestan, where are you?) Of course, everything is allegorical, and the Assumption is, in the popular mysticism of the time, a metaphor for union with Christ, which, by analogy, involves the end (death) of the pre-enlightened self.

The motetus is IMO very interesting as a poem because it's got a sting in its tail. It looks as though he's  happy because Fortune has  smiled on him. He  builds it up

QuoteDe ma douleur comfortes doucement
De mon labour meris tres hautement
De grand tristour en toute joie mis . . .

etc etc for about 10 lines.  But then in the last line he announces

QuoteMais, par m'ame, je mens parmi mes dents

Shocking! It's fabulous and funny even!

The triplum says that he's thoroughly miserable because he's not one with his woman.

(https://is2-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music19/v4/52/8c/c9/528cc993-ae12-cddc-c955-cb2bbd3f8438/190296984075.jpg/600x600bf.png)

Three ensembles have recorded this motet as far as I can tell.  Orlando (Gentle physician) sing the whole motet cheerfully, beautifully but as far as I can see, without any insight into the meaning. It's a high standard of work, but workmanlike nonetheless. The Vocalconsort Berlin sing the upper two parts with drums. EMN sing the triplum and motetus separately. I love the way EMN present the triplum, the way they use drums, and I very much like Vocalconsort Berlin's performance too -- they are both very cool.

However I would say that none of them plumb the poetic meaning of the motet, it's mystical and emotional meaning -- HE is sorely missed!

I dont like the sound of Musica Nova much. Its too high pitched and shrill. But the second track is great. I think its the only one without female singers. It sounds like the motets on the recording that graindelavoix made.

They sing 12 with low voices  - and 14 and 20 in a way too.

My first immersion into the Machaut's motets performed by Ensemble Musica Nova has been simply electrifying (mind you: listening without reading the texts, I just wanted to hear the overall musical effect, as if it were a fugue) 
I will do a pause before returning to Machaut for a second listening , it is not easy listening. During these breaks ( 1-2 days long ) I usually return to Bach, instrumental Bach :)
I would have preferred a different order in the placement of the motets on disc, tracks 1 and 2 are logically consecutive ( one voice alone and then all the three together) , but in other cases this has not been done.
But it is a venial sin. I love this music . Many many thanks to this thread for the dispensed advices !

What a wealth, I have just listened to a few samples from this set and I am so impressed that I have bought this set without delay.Luckily I found this edition  ( second-hand )

(https://i.postimg.cc/vmrqr7h9/61-Csxe-RA67-L-SY400.jpg)

Quote from: Traverso on November 23, 2018, 01:51:44 PM
What a wealth, I have just listened to a few samples from this set and I am so impressed that I have bought this set without delay.Luckily I found this edition  ( second-hand )

(https://i.postimg.cc/vmrqr7h9/61-Csxe-RA67-L-SY400.jpg)

Excellent choice!  :)
The original edition on ZigZag has later been reissued on Æon - confusingly...

[asin]B004V4GXY8[/asin]

The elaborate notes of the original are said not to have survived the reissue, however....

Q

Quote from: Que on November 23, 2018, 01:59:50 PM
Excellent choice!  :)
The original edition on ZigZag has later been reissued on Æon - confusingly...

[asin]B004V4GXY8[/asin]

The elaborate notes of the original are said not to have survived the reissue, however....

Q

Fortunately I found the original edition ( Bol.),I'm very excited about this music.I listened earlier today to the Tudor music ,it is as drinking heavenly soup. :D

In my opinion the Hilliard is at least as rewarding as the EMN, though I can imagine some people may not like the acoustic quality.

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z87Ro-jtL._SY355_.jpg) (http://static.classicalm.com/repository/composition-cover/27762-img1467958108222005.jpg)

Hilliard

1. Harmonic conception of the music, I mean the interesting thing is when the layers overlap to make harmonies. That's why they sing a capella, with no contrasting instrumental timbers to marr the harmonically exciting blends, and presumably they are using just intonation, which makes the harmonies more scrunchy, to use a technical term.

2. Prima le parole. They believe that Machaut intended the music to express the sentiment found in the poetry.

EMN

1. Melodic and rhythmic conception of the music, I mean the interesting thing is to bring out the independent melody and rhythm of each voice. Instruments are used to create a less homogeneous texture, and to help the listener follow each voice simultaneously. What sort of intonation do they use? It sounds less scrunchy than Hilliard.

2. Prima la musica. They don't seem to show much interest in making their singing express the feelings in the poems, they're much more concerned about creating a clear strong pulse and and an exciting pace.

This is the current state if the Orlando Consort's series vis a vis  the motets. Please let me know if I've made a mistake.

QuoteM1 "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde"  Dart of Love
M2 "De souspirant / Tous corps qui de bien amer / Suspiro" Burning Heart
M3 "Fine Amour / He! Mors com tu es haie / Quare non sum mortuus"  Fortune's Child
M4 "Puisque la douce rousee / De Bon Espoir / Speravi" Soverign Beauty
M5 "Qui plus aimme / Aucune gent m'ont demandé / Fiat voluntas tua" Burning Heart
M6 "S'Amours tous amans joir / S'il estoit nulz qui pleindre / Et gaudebit cor vestrum"
M7 "Lasse! je sui en aventure / J'ay tant mon cuer / Ego moriar pro te" Soverign Beauty
M8 "Ha! Fortune / Qui es promesses de Fortune / Et non est qui adjuvet" Single Rose
M9 "O livoris feritas / Fons totuis superbie / Fera pessima" Single Rose
M10 "Helas! ou sera pris confors / Hareu! hareu! le feu / Obediens usque ad mortem"
M11 "Fins cuers doulz / Dame, je sui cilz / Fins cuers doulz" Dart of Love
M12 "Corde mesto cantando / Helas! pour quoy virent / Libera me" Fortune's Child
M13 "Eins que ma dame / Tant doucement m'ont attrait / Ruina"
M14 "De ma dolour / Maugre mon cuer / Quia amore langueo" Gentle Physician
M15 "Faus Samblant m'a deceu / Amours qui ha le pouoir / Vidi Dominum"
M16 "Se j'aim mon loyal ami / Lasse! comment oublieray / Pour quoy me bat mes matris?" Dart of Love
M17 "O series summe rata / Quant vraie amour enflamee / Super omnes speciosa"
M18 "Bone pastor, qui pastores / Bone pastor, Guillerme / Bone pastor" (c. 1324) Single Rose
M19 "Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus"
M20 "Biaute paree de valour / Trop plus est belle / Je ne sui mie certeins" Fortune's Child
M21 "Veni creator spiritus / Christe, quie lux es / Tribulatio proxima est et non est qui adjuvet" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M22 "Plange, regni respublica / Tu qui gregem tuum ducis / Apprehende arma et scutum et exurge" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M23 "Inviolata genitrix / Felix virgo / Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes" (c. 1358–60 or later)
M24 "De touz les biens / Li enseignement / Ecce tu pulchra es amica mea" (doubtful)

(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z87Ro-jtL._SY355_.jpg)

Listening to this CD from start to end today, one reason why I like the Hilliard approach so much became clearer. It's a cycle. Whereas other interpretations chose instruments for some, two, three, four or six voices for others, and so in some sense offer a lot more variety, the uniformity of the Hilliard approach is its very strength. As with Art of Fugue, there's enough variety in the music, it doesn't need timbres and textures changing from one motet to the next, and doing so makes for a less coherent presentation.

The sound was better than I'd heard it before because over the past year I've got better hifi. There is, IMO, no problem at all about the sound, but there may be a problem about some playback equipment.

I got it out because vers la flamme suggested that Dufay represents a step forward from Machaut, listening to this confirmed my initial reaction that that's not quite the case. Dufay's Dufay, Machaut's Machaut. Everything is what it is and not another thing.

Quote from: Mandryka on October 08, 2019, 01:54:52 PM
(https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z87Ro-jtL._SY355_.jpg)

Listening to this CD from start to end today, one reason why I like the Hilliard approach so much became clearer. It's a cycle. Whereas other interpretations chose instruments for some, two, three, four or six voices for others, and so in some sense offer a lot more variety, the uniformity of the Hilliard approach is its very strength. As with Art of Fugue, there's enough variety in the music, it doesn't need timbres and textures changing from one motet to the next, and doing so makes for a less coherent presentation.

The sound was better than I'd heard it before because over the past year I've got better hifi. There is, IMO, no problem at all about the sound, but there may be a problem about some playback equipment.

I got it out because vers la flamme suggested that Dufay represents a step forward from Machaut, listening to this confirmed my initial reaction that that's not quite the case. Dufay's Dufay, Machaut's Machaut. Everything is what it is and not another thing.

I always liked that recording.

Quote from: Mandryka on September 12, 2019, 12:35:03 AMThis is the current state if the Orlando Consort's series vis a vis  the motets. Please let me know if I've made a mistake.

The final volume releases tomorrow. So an update:

M1 "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde"  Dart of Love
M2 "De souspirant / Tous corps qui de bien amer / Suspiro" Burning Heart
M3 "Fine Amour / He! Mors com tu es haie / Quare non sum mortuus" Fortune's Child
M4 "Puisque la douce rousee / De Bon Espoir / Speravi" Soverign Beauty
M5 "Qui plus aimme / Aucune gent m'ont demandé / Fiat voluntas tua" Burning Heart
M6 "S'Amours tous amans joir / S'il estoit nulz qui pleindre / Et gaudebit cor vestrum" Lion of Nobility
M7 "Lasse! je sui en aventure / J'ay tant mon cuer / Ego moriar pro te" Soverign Beauty
M8 "Ha! Fortune / Qui es promesses de Fortune / Et non est qui adjuvet" Single Rose
M9 "O livoris feritas / Fons totuis superbie / Fera pessima" Single Rose
M10 "Helas! ou sera pris confors / Hareu! hareu! le feu / Obediens usque ad mortem" A Lover's Death
M11 "Fins cuers doulz / Dame, je sui cilz / Fins cuers doulz" Dart of Love
M12 "Corde mesto cantando / Helas! pour quoy virent / Libera me" Fortune's Child
M13 "Eins que ma dame / Tant doucement m'ont attrait / Ruina" Lion of Nobility
M14 "De ma dolour / Maugre mon cuer / Quia amore langueo" Gentle Physician
M15 "Faus Samblant m'a deceu / Amours qui ha le pouoir / Vidi Dominum" A Lover's Death
M16 "Se j'aim mon loyal ami / Lasse! comment oublieray / Pour quoy me bat mes matris?" Dart of Love
M17 "O series summe rata / Quant vraie amour enflamee / Super omnes speciosa" A Lover's Death
M18 "Bone pastor, qui pastores / Bone pastor, Guillerme / Bone pastor"  Single Rose
M19 "Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus" A Lover's Death
M20 "Biaute paree de valour / Trop plus est belle / Je ne sui mie certeins" Fortune's Child
M21 "Veni creator spiritus / Christe, quie lux es / Tribulatio proxima est et non est qui adjuvet" Fount of Grace
M22 "Plange, regni respublica / Tu qui gregem tuum ducis / Apprehende arma et scutum et exurge" Fount of Grace
M23 "Inviolata genitrix / Felix virgo / Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes" Fount of Grace

The later volumes have had some excellent motet performances I think, M23 for example.

Quote from: Selig on January 29, 2025, 06:25:36 PMThe final volume releases tomorrow. So an update:

M1 "Quant en moy / Amour et biauté / Amara valde"  Dart of Love
M2 "De souspirant / Tous corps qui de bien amer / Suspiro" Burning Heart
M3 "Fine Amour / He! Mors com tu es haie / Quare non sum mortuus" Fortune's Child
M4 "Puisque la douce rousee / De Bon Espoir / Speravi" Soverign Beauty
M5 "Qui plus aimme / Aucune gent m'ont demandé / Fiat voluntas tua" Burning Heart
M6 "S'Amours tous amans joir / S'il estoit nulz qui pleindre / Et gaudebit cor vestrum" Lion of Nobility
M7 "Lasse! je sui en aventure / J'ay tant mon cuer / Ego moriar pro te" Soverign Beauty
M8 "Ha! Fortune / Qui es promesses de Fortune / Et non est qui adjuvet" Single Rose
M9 "O livoris feritas / Fons totuis superbie / Fera pessima" Single Rose
M10 "Helas! ou sera pris confors / Hareu! hareu! le feu / Obediens usque ad mortem" A Lover's Death
M11 "Fins cuers doulz / Dame, je sui cilz / Fins cuers doulz" Dart of Love
M12 "Corde mesto cantando / Helas! pour quoy virent / Libera me" Fortune's Child
M13 "Eins que ma dame / Tant doucement m'ont attrait / Ruina" Lion of Nobility
M14 "De ma dolour / Maugre mon cuer / Quia amore langueo" Gentle Physician
M15 "Faus Samblant m'a deceu / Amours qui ha le pouoir / Vidi Dominum" A Lover's Death
M16 "Se j'aim mon loyal ami / Lasse! comment oublieray / Pour quoy me bat mes matris?" Dart of Love
M17 "O series summe rata / Quant vraie amour enflamee / Super omnes speciosa" A Lover's Death
M18 "Bone pastor, qui pastores / Bone pastor, Guillerme / Bone pastor"  Single Rose
M19 "Diligenter inquiramus / Martyrum gemma latria / A Christo honoratus" A Lover's Death
M20 "Biaute paree de valour / Trop plus est belle / Je ne sui mie certeins" Fortune's Child
M21 "Veni creator spiritus / Christe, quie lux es / Tribulatio proxima est et non est qui adjuvet" Fount of Grace
M22 "Plange, regni respublica / Tu qui gregem tuum ducis / Apprehende arma et scutum et exurge" Fount of Grace
M23 "Inviolata genitrix / Felix virgo / Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes" Fount of Grace

The later volumes have had some excellent motet performances I think, M23 for example.

Cheers, Selig. I'm going to go through this thread soon and listen to each motet systematically again, see what new performances I can get hold of. That'll be a good project for the Spring.